Musings on a Life in the Theatre, Tablet PC's, Cultural Issues, (oh, and the occasional emu sighting...)

42 posts categorized "Fact of the Day"

December 18, 2011

It's not often in the history of the world where the interesection of the arts and politics collide in a profound way that saw Vaclav Havel move from the stage of one to the stage of the other. But that happened with this playwright who saw his dissident and boundry pushing plays, along with his actions propel him from the stage to prision to the presidency of Czechoslvakia. All of this at a momentus and confusing time in history as communism was falling in Europe.

Havel was always a hero of mine for his writings and how they contained greater truths that unseated conventional thinking in such an entertaining way. In ways that only the stage can really provide and he did so with great risk, given the era in which he was poking at the ribs of the beast that constrained muh of the world.

These thoughts from Havel made sense then. And as with the case of all great thinkers and writers, it still makes even more frightening sense as we have supposedly moved forward. More, because you'd think we should have learned something from that era.

"We have become morally ill because we are used to saying one thing and thinking another. We have learned not to believe in anything, not to care about each other. . . . Love, friendship, mercy, humility, or forgiveness have lost their depths and dimension. . . . They represent some sort of psychological curiosity, or they appear as long-lost wanderers from faraway times."

But, then we don't have a habit of listening to the chroniclers of the human condition.

Frank Rich tries to pin a label on the No Label movement. That movement started in an attempt to turn Washington away from the knife fights that currently exist. Rich is correct in that No Labels will not succeed in the end, but he shows that he's just as much a beneficiary of the current farce as everyone else who sucks on the public tit is.

MG Seigler says Yahoo killed consumer confidence in themselves and other Cloud services. Nothing is permanent in the Cloud as the name we've all attached to it so metaphorically suggests. And if Yahoo still has enough clout or leadership or respect or whatever to have that kind of effect, the Cloud is dissolving into mist anyway.

Gay men and women in the military can now be asked and are free to tell. That's a good thing because at least on the surface the military no longer undercuts its culture of responsibility by forcing its members to lie. But immigrants who fight for this country can't become citizens. Our cultural homophobia probably didn't go away, but it can now at least dance with our entrenched xenophobia out in the open. And we call this a great country?

We can't get a budget or anything else done in Congress, but atleast they can come together to pass the CALM Act. That keeps advertisers from boosting the volume on obnoxious commercials higher than the TV shows they run on. Did we really need an act of Congress for this?

The TSA is going nuts, as are air travelers and pilots about full body scans and frisking, that apparently gets quite personal. This isn't going to turn out good. One of these days we're going to see exploding breast and penis implants.

The Deficit Commission's report is probably dead before it even gets a chance. Too bad. It ticked off folks on all sides and that's a good place to start. But no one is going to want to debate this with any modicum of honesty or sincerity. That's the real deficit.

So an expectant mother eats a poppy seed bagel the day before she gives birth. The hospital's screening is set so that the the makeup of the poppy seeds register as if she was doing drugs. Procedures force them to turn her in and the baby is seized by officials because of abuse. Humans can screw anything up.

October 31, 2010

There was a Rally for Sanity or Fear or something yesterday. The media couldn't swallow it they way they do other rallies for fear of being called partisan. The organizers insist it wasn't political. Counting the size of these things has become another way to spread lies and disinformation and a parlor game. Ain't life grand. Bottom line, now that all politics has become entertainment, none of it matters as long as someone watches. I love the complaints about the fact that these were comedians organizing the event. I love the defense that these were comedians organizing the event. As if the folks who pretend they are politicians aren't comedians, whether or not they intend to be. And vice versa. The world hasn't turned upside down as some think it has. But operators behind the curtain aren't hiding anymore now that the curtain has fallen. We've got a lot of emperors, or wanna be emperors, who aren't ashamed anymore to say they aren't wearing clothes. The thing is I trust the comedians more than I do the politicians. At least the comedians admit they are lying and their smiles are more sincere.

Some folks are agonizing big time about the election on Tuesday. No need. Nothing will change except some of the faces. The Dems lost this one long ago, the Republicans will lose by winning on Tuesday. The Tea Party folks will feel really good for a short time and then get angry again when no one listens. Nothing will change except the score cards. The ignorant will still think they matter, the smart ones will still think they matter. The ones with the money who do matter will pretend to let them both think so, and go back to counting their money.

Michael Arrington talks about being a pirate in the context of being an entrepreneur. Good read. He might as well be talking about being a politician.

Framed as Four Questions for Republicans, it should be framed as Four Questions for us all. But then that's not sexy and implies we would care about facts.

October 24, 2010

It has been quite some time since a post with this heading appeared here. Life intervenes sometimes. But here is some Sunday morning reading to share.

I think there's an election coming up in a week or so, or maybe it is just a carnival. Not sure which. Regardless of the event, it won't end up meaning all that much, even with some exhausting themselves telling you it does. Carnival hawkers actually have more success, I think. Frank Rich actually wrote a column that made me think twice about cutting him out of my reading list this week. Worth a read to prove the point if you ignore the headline.

Steve Ballmer says the next version of Windows is Microsoft's "riskiest" bet yet. Well, OK, then. I like what Dave Winer says about this.

NPR fires Juan Williams and that becomes a story? No, actually, Williams becomes the story. No, wait, journalism becomes the story. Stop. Journalism should never be the story. Nor should journalists. But then we've moved away from that sometime forever ago. This little skit proves why folks are tuning out everywhere, or only tuning in to see themselves in the mirror. Give me a break.

WikiLeaks releases more secret documents about the Iraq war. Shock and awe turns into shuck and jive. I haven't read them all, but based on what the news media is leading with in covering the story, I'd say there is nothing new here in the big picture, so I'm not sure what the fuss is all about.

Focus is starting to swing to what is being called a Mexican Drug War. Lots of grisly violence and even more angst about it. I imagine this will become a bigger deal as times goes on. But I'll just say this. The criminals with guns trying to gain or hang on to power through violence and destruction are at least more honest then the power games we deal with in this country. Call that honesty brutal if you will.

August 12, 2010

I'd love to see those who work so hard to write shocking headlines for news items that they think we, the readers, think might be news, just hang it up. I mean let's face it, nothing shocks us anymore except a real tragedy.

Of course there is fraud going on. Name a disaster, natural or man-made, where compensation of some form is to be paid out that hasn't had some level of fraud. It's automatic, like clock-work, and ever present.

This of course goes into a long list of headlines that chronicle the things we already know such as:

The list could go on and on, because sadly, there is nothing really new in this crazy world anymore, or what is new is considered not important enough to write about, or too dangerous to write about, or too taboo to write about.

May 23, 2010

Google unleashed lots at the I/O conference. Among the lots was the next version of the Android OS (Froyo) which is running the Flash 10.1 beta. Lots being said but lots. Here are some interesting takes on Flash and the announcements fromHarry McCracken, John Gruber, and MG Siegler. Bottom line it is open war fare and as I said here, for the first time, Apple is playing from behind.

Scoble has some interesting videos on how the iPad is changing art and music. Given that we saw some interesting things on these fronts with the iPhone, it is no surprise that the iPad furthers the journey.

Bill Maher has a very entertaining rant against the Republican Leadership. Excellent read.

Meanwhile in Texas history continues to be re-written in the textbooks. Two thoughts on this. This is a pendulum swing back from what had been a very liberal re-writing of many issues of our history. Second point, whenever you feel you need to re-interpret, re-frame, re-write history to shine the light on current thinking, you are in good company. (The communists, the current leader of Iran and other Holocaust deniers, etc...) Civilizations have been doing this for centuries. It's easier to make the past fit your current reality (or the one you want) than it is to deal with the complexities. Does make you wonder how this wacky era will be viewed in the future. But then again, when you can edit out facts you don't like (on all sides) and pump up views you do, it just shows how little faith you have in what you believe in.

March 14, 2010

Some Sunday morning reading to share. Although here, given to the clock switch, I’m not sure if it is morning, noon, or night, but I guess it is morning somewhere.

History takes it on the chin as the Texas State Board of Education decides to re-jigger what can and can’t be taught in history classes. There is still a public hearing in May on this, but I think the current tide of history runs with those only view it via the picture accompanying this post.

The great Apple iPad pre-order day is behind us (yes, I ordered one) and early unconfirmed numbers say Apple has sold 120,000 so far. One PCWorld writer says those 120,000 are idiots.

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals decides that “Under God” is now patriotic and not religious. They also say the same about “In God We Trust.” I wish those who keep fighting these endless battles would have the guts to stand up and say what they really think instead of trying to pass of the issue on our Founding Fathers. Those guys are dead and couldn’t care less.

Shock, Gasp! There’s been rampant fraud during the reconstruction of Iraq! Please tell me you aren’t surprised by this. Four things happen during a war. Some make money. Atrocities are committed. Truth becomes a casualty. Oh, and some die.

Frank Rich tries (and mostly succeeds) in drawing a distinction between the Tea Party and the Republican Party. I keep saying that the Tea Party will destroy both traditional parties in November. I still think that will happen.

We've been fighting the good fight on Arts funding in the Virginia budget debates an still continue to do so. Here's a couple of good reads on the issue.